Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 3 Day 220
“Equality is an obstacle to callousness, setting a limit to power. Indeed, the history of mankind may be descried as the history of the tension between power and equality.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg.94)
Today is the day after the commemoration of D-Day, 80 years later. We honored those who lived through the invasion and those who died there-all of them being brave and courageous, no matter that Trump and his minions call them losers! Now what, how were we changed by remembering those who died and lived in service of “equality” and freedom? Are we a little more committed to ensuring “Freedom for all”, “equality” for everyone? Or, are we going to go back to sleep and pat ourselves on the back for honoring the dead and their sacrifice while not being willing to make our own sacrifice for the next generations to come as our ancestors did?
The ‘day after’ is, I was taught by my Rabbi, Ed Feinstein, to be the most important day- how are we changed by the ‘holy day’, the holiday, the commemoration, the celebration? If we are not willing to take the actions needed to ensure what the brave men and women throughout our history fought, died and lived for-then what are we? If we are not willing to engage in “setting a limit to power”, what do we expect to happen to us and our descendants? If we are not moved by the determination of people to give their all, “their last full measure” so we did not have to be ruled by Hitler and his thugs, then, who are we? We are not being human, we are not following the tenets of any spiritual discipline nor religion, we are selfish, power-hungry and callous homo-sapiens!
“Equality”, as I hear Rabbi Heschel today, is to ensure that all people have equal opportunity to be educated well, to have equal opportunity to be hired for jobs/careers they are qualified for, that race, color, religion, creed are not barriers nor blockades to being elected to office, to buying a house in any neighborhood, to entering any college, high school, etc. These are some of the ways “equality is an obstacle to callousness”. Yet, we seem to have a default to callousness, we seem to relish our descent into inequality, we seem to believe if we practice callousness towards another group we will hold onto power and never be touched by callousness. The callousness of mendacity and deception seem to bring people to authoritarians like a moth to light, we seem to be unable to stand up and tell Fox News - stop lying, stop promoting inequality and callousness, stop trying to have ‘all power’. We seem to be unable to convince a larger majority of people that the callousness and inequality they are worshiping at rallies, at the actions of white supremacists, by the Heritage Foundation and other right-wing groups will impact them negatively, will subject them to the same fate as others throughout history have suffered and experienced; spiritual, emotional and physical tragedies that are very difficult to return from.
We are witnessing the pendulum swing towards power in society right now-be it the power grab of the far-right or the power grab of the far-left, be it the power grab of the opportunists like Trump, Musk, Bannon, Miller, et al or the squad and those on the left who want the power because they will use it ‘for good’-of course it is the ‘good’ they decide on-not necessarily the good of all. The anti-semitism on the left is a good example of how they use power to shut down graduations, classes, intimidate Jews and seek the destruction of Israel as a State and homeland. For those of us in the middle, those of us who know the cruelty of limitless power, those of us who can and do see the nuances, the both/and of life, we are not welcome in either the far-right of the Republican Party nor the far-left of the Democratic Party. The “tension between power and equality” seems to be leaning to the “power” side by both ends of the continuum!
We, the people, need to root out the callousness that dwells within each of us before we can solve the problem of callousness in our communities and countries. We need to take this “day after” and examine how we fall into the self-deception of believing we are not callous and yet, we give unequal weight to ‘our story’, to people on ‘our side’ rather than see and promote truth, equality, kindness and freedom. We all have to admit our prejudices and then rise above them, engage with our lurch towards power and hold it at bay with hearing the call of our souls to be kind rather than callous, to be in full disclosure rather than hide any flaws, admit our agendas and bias in order to hear the ‘rest of the story’ and, possibly, change our thinking and actions. We, the people, at this time in the history of our world, have to bring the “tension” back into proper measure between “power and equality” and we have to say NO to the thugs and the criminals who seek limitless power for their own sake.
I have fought for equality forever, again something I learned from my ancestors. My father and uncles fought in WWII and my being callous during my years in active addiction was an affront to their service. In recovery, I have been a warrior for “equality”, I work hard to afford equality to all whom I meet and hear them out before deciding if I agree or disagree. “Equality” to me doesn’t mean total agreement nor does it mean liking everyone or being on everyone’s side. It means that I give people the benefit of the doubt and allow them to show me who they are and then decide if I want to hang with them or now. I have left callousness in my past and I am in awe of the power I have rather than use it limitlessly. I have done the best I can to use my power to promote “equality” and provide opportunities for people I have encountered. I do this without any promise of reward except the promise of being able to live with myself. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark